The British press speculates that one of two things might have happened: either the mother, Kate, slapped the girl, who then hit her head and died from the consequences, or a sedative led to her death. Driven by the fear of losing the twins and ruining their medical careers, as well as the prospect of a prison sentence of indeterminate length, the McCanns -- so go the speculations -- decided to conceal the girl's body until they could decide what to do with it. Then, 25 days later, the tabloids claim, they disposed of the corpse.